Gaia Gaibazzi

Italian clarinetist and bass clarinetist, currently a doctoral candidate in music at the University of Aveiro. Her artistic activity spans solo, orchestral, and chamber performance, with a particular interest in experimentation, contemporary repertoire, and 19th–20th century Italian clarinet music.

She studied in Genoa at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) and at the “Scatola Sonora” Academy in Rome, where she worked with Fabio Di Càsola, Bernhard Röthlisberger, Filipa Nunes, and Calogero Palermo. She has collaborated with musical ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, Giraud Ensemble, Arc-en-ciel Ensemble, and the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, under the direction of conductors including Riccardo Muti, Dennis Russell Davies, Wayne Marshall, and Pierre-André Valade.

She has performed with renowned ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, Giraud Ensemble, Arc-en-ciel Ensemble, and the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, under conductors including Riccardo Muti, Dennis Russel Davies, Wayne Marshall, and Pierre-André Valade. Her performances have taken place in major venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Tonhalle Zürich, Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Casa da Música (Porto), and Philharmonie Luxembourg.
As a chamber musician, she regularly performs with Liv Quartet, appearing in festivals and series including MITOFringe (Milan), Festival Fiati Novara, and Die Tage für Neue Musik Zürich. She has recorded for Sony Music and Da Vinci Classics. Winner of several competitions in Switzerland and Italy, she was also an artist-in-residence for the Prélude concert season at Tonhalle Zürich.

She is currently pursuing her PhD in Music at the University of Aveiro, Portugal.

Doctoral Project

Title
The 3R Project – Reconnect, Revive, Reimagine: Italian Clarinet Heritage as Catalyst for 21st-Century Compositions

Advisor
Henrique Portovedo

Abstract
This practice-based doctoral project explores the intersections of archival inquiry, national traditions, and performer-led investigation in the contemporary Italian clarinet repertoire. It investigates how fragmentary works by 19th- and 20th-century Italian composers can act as catalysts for the creation of new compositions through dialogic collaboration with living composers. Rather than restoring what it is lost, the research treats fragments as “epistemic things” (Rheinberger, 1997), unstable objects that invite reflection, experimentation, and reinterpretation. Two strands of case studies structure the inquiry: one focuses on historically rooted pieces that reflect Italy’s operatic and folkloric idioms, and the other develops new works in collaboration with contemporary composers Francesca Verunelli, Francesco Filidei, and Oscar Bianchi, who creatively respond to archival materials by Gaetano Donizetti, Ferruccio Busoni, and Giovanni Orsomando. Each case study involves iterative rehearsal processes, public performances, recordings, and critical reflection. Grounded in artistic research methodologies (Borgdorff, 2012; Nelson, 2013) and performer–composer co-creation (Blain & Minors, 2020; Rosman, 2021), the project repositions performance as both a creative and scholarly act. It aims to reconnect, revive and reimagine the Italian clarinet heritage.
Artistic outcomes include a portfolio of newly commissioned compositions, modern notation editions of the manuscripts, public performances, studio and live recordings, and a reflective commentary documenting rehearsal processes and performer–composer interaction..

Keywords
Clarinet; Artistic research; Fragments; Performer–composer collaboration; Italian music.